The US has 50 states, and there is wide variety in how each of those states handle counties. In one extreme, you have Virginia, where counties are the most loca

The US has 50 states, and there is wide variety in how each of those states handle counties. In one extreme, you have Virginia, where counties are the most local form of government (and cities are independent of counties, not to be confused with consolidated city-counties); on the other extreme, you have Massachusetts, where counties are basically just administrative boundaries for the state. And in between, you have different levels of county power versus state or more local (city/town/township) control.